A Trip to New York
by Xaex
Summary: Ichigo and crew goes to New York! Ichigo can finally have a nice holiday for once, instead of just fighting battle after battle all the time. However, will this really just be a simple vacation, or is this trip just a part of a bigger conspiracy...?


_**Chapter 1: Prologue**_

"Sir, please..." A voice seemed to call from a distance. "... land... seat belt..."

Ichigo mumbled a bit and flipped around in his seat. "Just five more minutes..."

"Sir... sir... SIR!" The voice suddenly magnified by ten folds and seem to explode in his ear. "We're landing in half an hour, please put on your seat belt!" The stewardess practically yelled into his ear.

"Wha...? Landing? Why? What's happening? Where am I? Who are you? Who am I?" The disoriented Ichigo jumped up from his seat as he looked around.

The stewardess sighed. "Sir, just put on your seat belt." Ichigo blinked at her. "Seat. Belt." She emphasized. She looked around hurriedly. Hopefully the head stewardess was not near, or else she would be fired on the spot for being so rude to a passenger. Although it's not really her fault that he's so dense.

"But but, I was just in soul society! How did I end up here?" Ichigo asked, full of confusion. "I mean it's not like I was in the middle of a battle or anything, but I don't remember going through the Dengai or Senkaimon. I was just taking a nap in a corner of the fourth division's headquarters, and when I wake up I'm..." he looked around himself to get his bearings, "on a plane! What the heck is going on?"

Everyone in the plane just stared at Ichigo as if he just sprouted two heads. And somehow they all had an accusing look on their faces. The stewardess put her forehead in her hands and sighed heavily. She reached into her cart and rummaged around for a bit. She then shoved a booklet into his hands. "Have you not even read the script yet? And to think you were the main character..." She shook her head and walked away.

Ichigo frantically flipped through the script trying to salvage the situation. "Nobody ever told me this! What is this? WHY DOES NO ONE TELL ME ANYTHING?" He yelled to no one in particular. "Dammit and I'm supposed to be the main character..." He sulked.

"You're really loud, Ichigo. Will you shut up for a bit?" A familiar voice floated over. It was Rukia. She was dressed differently, in expensive looking clothes. Ichigo didn't know much about fashion, but those clothes looked like designer brands.

"Rukia? You're on the plane too?"

"Of course. Now be quiet. We can hear you all the way from the first class section."

"We?" He asked. "Who else is with you? Wait, first class? How come you get to be in first class and I'm only in the third class?"

"That's because we're rich you idiot. And fyi, I came with nii-sama." Rukia stuck out her tongue.

Ichigo took out the script again and flipped to the cast section. "Oh so Bykuya is the CEO of a huge company... No wonder. Makes sense since before you guys are supposed to be nobles. Wait, how come I'm labelled as a "poor student"? This is completely unnecessary!" He yelled indignantly. "If I was poor, how the heck was I able to afford a plane ticket in the first place?"

"Jeez read the script already! It's because you won a contest at a shopping mall and the prize was a free trip overseas." Rukia said as she crossed her arms.

"O...overseas?!" He yelled again. "I've never been overseas before! This might actually turn out to be an exciting trip... So what was the destination again?"

"New York, New York! What am I going to do with you Ichigo..." Rukia shook her head.

"Kurosaki, there's a limit to how stupid you can be." A cold voice cut in from somewhere behind him.

Ichigo turned around and looked around. "Uryu! You're here too? How did you get on the plane?"

"My father owns a huge hospital, so a trip like this is nothing. He wanted to put me in first class but I don't like to flash around my wealth so I came to third class instead." Uryu pushed his glasses up a bit from his nose.

"I see..." Ichigo nodded. "Hey, am I the only one who's poor here?"

"Pretty much." Rukia snickered.

"Oh, this is completely unfair..." He mumbled. "So... I'm supposed to be a tourist? Hm. What is even the plot of this script?"

"I'm not sure..." Rukia looked away.

"What? How? You looked so sure of yourself just now."

"Well... It wasn't really clear... I think the script writers couldn't finish on time because the deadlines were tight or something."

"Then... What are we supposed to do with this half finished plot then?"

"Well... For now just follow the script."

"And when it ends?"

"Just... Improvise or something. Now get ready to land. And stop acting out of character, you're not supposed to be THIS stupid."

"Right... Hey!" Realizing that he was just insulted he jumped up, but Rukia was already gone. He sighed and sat back down. He pulled his seat belt across and then proceeded to sit there for the rest of the ride staring out of the window. Somehow he has a bad feeling about all this. But then again, it was a free trip overseas! He always wanted to go overseas. Sure, he went to Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, but he never went there just to have fun. He was always headed for some sort of battle. He smiled to himself. This might actually turn out to be fun. Later on he realized how stupid he was. Did anything in his life ever went the way he wanted?

* * *

"Wow, just wow." Ichigo stood outside of the airport, amazed by the scenery. It was a sunny day in New York, with white puffy clouds in the sky (although if he looked closer he would've noticed they looked like skulls). It was like he just stepped into a picture.

"Are you done oogling now?" Uryu's comment was a like a discordant note in the harmony.

Ichigo sighed. "Uryu, do you have to ruin everything?"

"I try my best." Uryu answered absently. He stuck out his hand and waved at a passing taxi. As it pulled over, he loaded his stuff in the back trunk and got in the back seats. As he pulled the door close, he heard another door shutting, and turned around. Ichigo was sitting beside him in the leather seats.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He frowned. "Get. Out."

"Oh come on Uryu. I don't know where my hotel is! Don't be such a stingy four-eyes." Ichigo stretched. "Ah, those seats are comfy..."

Uryu spluttered. "Sting... Four... you... you little... I am NOT!"

Ichigo reached into Uryu's bag and pulled out a brochure. "Hm, this place doesn't look half bad." He nodded as he approved the hotel they were staying at.

"Listen here, Kurosaki..." Uryu started.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Ichigo waved a hand dismissively at him. "Wow, they even have a pool!"

"Listen to what I'm saying!"

"I am listening. Oh, the food looks good..."

"Where to?" The driver asked in English.

"The Grand Hotel please." Ichigo answered. Good thing he paid attention in English class. He can at least manage that much English.

"Kurosaki!" Uryu is positively seething by now.

"Uryu, calm down. We're in this beautiful place, you should enjoy yourself. Look at all the beautiful scenery outside! Don't you feel better already?"

"No, I don't! You are the reason I'm not enjoying myself here!"

"But aren't you happy to be with a friend?"

"We're not friends, we're rivals! And I'd rather be alone!"

"Aw that's just sad... Stop being so antisocial."

Uryu opened and closed his mouth. He knew he was fighting a losing battle here, so what was the point? He sighed. "Whatever. I'm not wasting anymore energy arguing with a dunce. Just leave when we get there."

"Now that's the spirit!" Ichigo clapped him on the back. Uryu's eye twitched a little, but he forced himself to stay silent.

Even though the driver couldn't understand Japanese, he could easily deduce what they were talking about by their expressions. He had a hard time holding his laughter back, and a laugh escaped when the orange-haired boy clapped the glasses boy on the back. He quickly tried to hide it with a cough, pretending to look anywhere but them.

* * *

"That would be 50 dollars." The driver announced as they got to their destination.

Uryu took out 25 dollars from his wallet and handed it to the driver. Ichigo stared.

"Um Uryu, he said 50 dollars. I thought you were good at English...?"

"I know." Uryu answer coolly.

"Then why...?"

"Because you're paying the other half."

This time it was Ichigo's turn to splutter. "Bu... but... but! I'm poor, Uryu! How can you make me pay?"

"It's only fair isn't it?" Uryu gave him a devilish smile.

Ichigo stared at him. "Right, remember how you said you wanted me to leave once we get here? Bye." He practically fell through the door as he rushed towards the hotel.

"Hey, hey! COME BACK HERE!" Uryu yelled after him. "KUROSAKIIIII!" But he was already no where to be seen.

"Are you going to be paying the rest of the money?" The driver asked. Uryu spun around and glared at him as if this was all his fault. The driver quickly turned back. Today he finally learned how scary Japanese people could be. Especially the ones that wear glasses.

* * *

Ichigo swiped the key through the handle and the door opened with a click. He pushed down on the handle and pushed open the door.

It was pitch dark inside. He fumbled around on the wall for the light switch for a long time before he got it. When the room was flooded with a warm yellow light, he stood there briefly, again amazed by how the luxurious looking room.

The whole room was almost as big as his house. He peaked into the bathroom which was right beside the door. When he switched on the lights inside he was almost blinded by the reflection. The whole place was so clean and pristine that he was the dirtiest thing in the bathroom. He quickly closed the door. The bed was gigantic, two times the size of a regular king-sized bed. He took off his jacket and threw it on the bed, then continued to look around. The armchairs were made out of expensive looking leather. He had no doubt it was real leather. The carpet was very thick and soft, and was a creamy ivory colour. When he stepped on it and lifted his foot, he can briefly see his footprint for a second and then the furs bounced back up. He walked to the foot of his bed and looked around. The TV was gigantic. It was at least 50 inches, most likely bigger. It hanged on the wall opposite to the bed. There was a huge aquarium somewhere deeper into the room. It was such a big room that he couldn't take in the whole room at once because you had to turn a corner. He walked around the corner. There was a table in the middle of a fully equipped kitchen. He tossed the key on the table, and it landed with a clack. He opened the fridge and found it stuffed full of food. There was also a whole wall of wine. Ichigo was stunned by how completely unnecessarily big and fancy this room was. They had a freaking chandelier in the room!

He stood in front of the aquarium and stared at the fish. There were all kinds of fish in there. There was the normal goldfish, and the smaller kinds, and some tiny fish that he would've missed if he was paying attention. Some of the fish in there look really exotic, with brightly coloured stripes and patterns. He wouldn't be surprised if he saw a dolphin in there, the tank was big enough for that. But the one thing they all had in common was that they all looked bored out of their minds. Or maybe they just look that way. His mind started wandering off as he continued to stare t all the fish in the aquarium...

* * *

"Uryu, are you sure he got here?" Rukia asked skeptically as they walked around looking for Ichigo.

"Of course! I would never forget how he ran out on me without paying for the taxi money." Uryu huffed angrily.

"Why don't you just drop it...?"

"Even if he's not giving me my money back, and I don't expect him to, I'm still going to beat him up so bad for humiliating me like that!"

"You do that..." Rukia murmured and walked into the elevator.

They met up in the hotel lobby a while ago. Rukia needed to find Ichigo to discuss the script with him for a bit, to see what they should do about it. Uryu needed to exact revenge on Ichigo. Now they are both looking for him.

"Say, Uryu, why didn't we just ask the receptionist which room Ichigo was staying in?" Rukia asked slowly.

"Don't look at me. We were supposed to look for him ourselves, that's what the script said." Uryu answered, sounding all important. Although there was a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Really... Has is ever occurred to you, that maybe the script writers aren't very bright? I mean, they made us do things the long way, and didn't even finish writing the script. And also the script is stupid in my opinion."

"Kuchiki-san! You shouldn't talk like that! What if they decided to kill you off because you're bad-mouthing them?"

"Well they can't change the script now so what's the problem?" The elevator stopped and opened up with a ding. Rukia and Uryu stepped out into the corridor.

They have been going through every single floor of the hotel. This was the last floor they haven't looked through yet, and it was also the top floor. Unlike all the other floors below it, the atmosphere here was definitely different. The doors were made out of dark wood, with intricate designs carved into them. The room numbers were made out of a sparking gold material. It was completely silent, as if no one was living in them at all.

"Well... this is... different..." Rukia whispered. "I think nii-sama is staying on this floor."

"Kuchiki-san, I just thought of something. Kurosaki would be in his room wouldn't he? We went through the whole hotel without looking into any of the rooms, don't you think we might've missed him?"

"... ..."

"... ..."

* * *

Suddenly as if waking from a dream, Ichigo snapped out of his trance. He looked around. It felt like a long time has past, but when he checked the clock on the wall it has only been ten minutes since he has been standing there.

He sneaked over to the bed and took out the script from his jacket pocket. It's not his fault that they decided to not tell him anything, and didn't even give him a script. He needed to see what he had to do next. He quickly skimmed it over and murmured to himself.

"And then... Oh crap! I'm supposed to be out there right now!" He jumped up from his bed and grabbed his jacket, and then rushed towards the door.

* * *

"Where is Ichigo dammit?" Rukia grumbled. "He's supposed to be here right now! That idiot... He probably didn't read the script."

Uryu didn't say anything. He needed to watch his blood pressure because if he made himself even more mad he would probably faint.

A door ahead of them clicked open. Someone stepped out from the door. He had a crisp suit on, with slightly long black hair that hung around his face casually. He fixed his collar a bit and looked up. It was Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia cried out with delight.

Byakuya looked up. His face was all business like. "Rukia. What are you doing here?"

"Byakuya-san." Uryu nodded at him as a greeting. "We were just looking for Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki Ichigo? He's in the room down there." He gestured to the room at the end of the hallway. "I can feel his reiatsu coming from there."

"Byakuya-san!" Uryu exclaimed. "You shouldn't be talking like that! We're not in Soul Society anymore, and you're just supposed to be a normal human, so you're not supposed to be able to feel reiatsu or anything like that!"

"I refuse to participate in your farce." Byakuya replied coldly. "This whole idea was ridiculous from the start."

"Then... Why did you agree to do it, nii-sama?" Rukia asked.

"Only because they threatened to pour herbicides onto all the cherry blossom trees in my house."

"... ..."

"... ..."

* * *

Finally after a lot of struggling, Ichigo managed to get the door open. The lock was way too complicated. He had no memory of ever locking the door, but it locked itself. It probably locked automatically. Now that he thought about it, he did vaguely remember hearing a click when he closed the door. He was too busy being awed at the room to register what it meant at the time.

When he stepped out into the hallway, he took in the strange scene in one glance. Byakuya was standing with his back to him facing Rukia and Uryu. The two of them looked so uncomfortable and awkward that it was hilarious.

"Rukia! Uryu! What took you two so long to get here?" Ichigo called out. He wanted to greet Byakuya, but he wasn't even supposed to be there, so he just tried to ignore him. He'd apologize later.

"Ichigo! I can't believe you stayed in one of those rooms. Were you shocked by how fancy your room looked?" Rukia smirked.

That hit right on the spot, and Ichigo winced silently. "No way... I see those kind of rooms all the time on TV, and I also saw it in the brochure already, so no big deal."

"Kurosaki Ichigo, what are you doing here?" Byakuya said as turned around.

"Sorry for letting you pay for the taxi Uryu." Ichigo apologized, ignoring Byakuya. He would probably get sliced into tiny little pieces later, but for now he needed to follow the script. "Thanks. You're a real friend."

"I am not your friend, Kurosaki! I'm your rival!" Uryu complained.

"Alright alright, rival. Let's go grab lunch together, I'm starving." Ichigo started walking towards them. Rukia looked worriedly at Byakuya and stood there looking back and forth between them. They started getting further and further away.

"Let's go get ramen!" Ichigo offered.

"Kurosaki, we're in New York. They don't sell ramen here." Uryu replied flatly. He pressed the elevator button.

They then lapsed into an awkward silence. The next line was supposed to be Rukia's, but she was still standing with Byakuya. Ichigo looked back at her. She looked so worried. Ichigo motioned for her to come to them, but she took a step and stopped. She looked back to Byakuya.

"... You're right. Let's go get some fries instead." Left with no choice, Ichigo said awkwardly.

"Do you have any idea how unhealthy fries are, Kuchiki-san?" Uryu pretended to turn to her and asked.

"... Then why don't we go get pizza?" Ichigo forced himself to smile. Although he really felt like he was about to explode from nerves.

"... ..."

"Ahaha, yeah right, Rukia..." Ichigo's laugh was more like a sob as he tried to continue the conversation.

"You're the last person that needs to be on a diet, Kuchiki-san." Uryu said.

"Uryu's right. If anything, you need to fatten up a little, Rukia." Ichigo grinned like an idiot. "... Ow... That hurts, Rukia... Stop hitting me..." Ichigo shielded himself with his arms. He felt like curling up on the floor and crying. He can feel his dignity slowly ebbing away by the second.

"You're such an idiot, Kurosaki." Uryu said half-heartedly.

"... ..."

Ichigo and Uryu looked at each other and looked away. They looked like a pair of insane idiots that are talking to an imaginary third person. People probably thought they ran away from a mental hospital or something. Ichigo stuck his arms into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. Uryu crossed his arms and stared at the elevator doors, as if that would make it come faster.

Suddenly Byakuya started walking towards them. Rukia instantly looked relieved and ran after him.

"Well then let's go!" Rukia said happily as the elevator opened. They all filed into the elevator.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, why did you ignore me?" Byakuya asked coldly.

Ichigo looked around for help, but Uryu and Rukia were looking anywhere but him. Ichigo coughed awkwardly and leaned in to whisper to Byakuya. "Well... You're not really supposed to be here right now... You know what I mean? We're not really supposed to be talking to you right now."

"Are you referring to that stupid script?" Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "If that was the reason for this then I'm wasting my breath talking to you right now."

"Aw come on Byakuya, don't be like this... Your part is coming up soon." Ichigo said.

The elevator door slid open and Byakuya strided out without a backward glance. Rukia started running after him but Uryu grabbed onto her arm.

"Just let him be, Kuchiki-san." Uryu urged. "For now let's just do what we're supposed to do."

Rukia sighed and nodded. "Fine."

* * *

"I heard this place is supposed to have really good pizza." Uryu said as they arrived outside of the restaurant.

"This is a pub." Ichigo widened his eyes. "We're underage!"

"Thank you for clarifying the obvious, Kurosaki." Uryu rolled his eyes. "You really think I haven't been doing my research? This place doesn't check for ID. Their security guards are only for show. As long as we carry ourselves with confidence and look like we belong there, we'll pass without a problem."

"I'm sure you and I wouldn't have a problem Uryu, but what about Rukia? She looks like she's twelve." Ichigo glanced at Rukia.

Rukia kicked him in the shins. "Shut up! No one needs to hear your opinion!"

Ichigo hopped on the spot holding on to his injured shin. "That hurts." He tried to make himself sound pitiful.

"Shall we get going then?" Uryu acted as if he didn't see anything and walked towards the door.

"Wow... Both of you are so mean! Are you really supposed to be my friends?" Ichigo yelled after them and limped along.

When he got to the door, the security guard stationed there didn't even glance at him. He was sitting in a chair reading a magazine. Ichigo sighed and pushed open the doors.

It was very loud inside, the music almost blasted his eardrums to smithereens. He squinted his eyes and searched for the two of them.

As he walked along, he bumped into numerous people. It was unavoidable since the people were all moving in some way, either dancing or moving around randomly because they're drunk. It has come to the point where he would automatically reply with "sorry".

"Next, the group you've all been waiting for... The Soul Sisters!" A loud voice over a microphone announced.

A new music started playing and the crowd went wild. Ichigo paused in his search and turned towards the stage. He saw three girls standing on the stage, each with a microphone in front of them. The girls standing slightly in the back were holding a bass and a keyboard. The girl standing in the front was holding a guitar. They played along to the music, and they were really good. Then the girl standing the front started singing. Her voice was really nice, and the song was actually really good too. Then the two other girls joined in. He tried to pull away his eyes and continue searching for Rukia and Uryu but he just couldn't for some reason. Finally the girl in the front ended the song with a high note. Everyone clapped loudly. The girl turned and caught Ichigo staring at her and blushed. She smiled a bit and turned back towards the crowd.

"Ichigo! What are you doing?" Rukia appeared beside his elbow and yelled at him over the clamour of the crowd. "We got a table over there, Uryu just ordered the pizza!"

Ichigo blinked at her. "Oh. Right. I'm coming." He turned around and gave them one last look as they went into the backstage. The lead girl turned around and looked at him too. They met each other's eyes, and Ichigo gave her a smile and a thumbs up. She blushed again and turned away quickly.

"They're really good aren't they?" Rukia followed Ichigo's gaze. "A lot of people come here just to see them, you know?"

"Oh trust me, I know." Ichigo nodded. Then he followed Rukia to their table.


End file.
